


Hero

by resonae



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2013-12-11
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resonae/pseuds/resonae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daemon!verse. </p><p>Seriously, Raleigh is an idiot. And this idiot used to be Chuck’s hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Will still be posted on Tumblr, just... in two places now lol.

The only thing normal about Camelai is that she’s a girl.

And then her normality stops about there. Unlike all the other kids, Camelai had settled when Chuck was three. Apparently, Chuck had told his parents,  _Camelai is going to stay that way_  when he was three, not quite understanding its implications. All the other kids in his class had daemons who were constantly changing, but Camelai stayed her form since he was three.

Camelai, also, was an albino fox. That didn’t happen, apparently, not that Chuck found out until much later in his life. People had thought she was an arctic fox, but a specialist had deemed that she was actually an albino red fox. She’s sleeker, more slender with a narrower jaw.

Chuck gets teased and bullied relentlessly because of it, but he just sets his jaw and bears through it.

His father’s daemon is a white Jindo dog. She’s big, bigger than Camelai, and she looks so vulpine that she and Camelai look related.

The first time they meet Stacker Pentecost (Chuck is thirteen and the top of his Academy class) and his gigantic, orange-and-black Bengal tiger, Camelai and Chuck press themselves to Eulalia, watching the tiger with fear. Eulalia, on the other hand, looks disinterested. He meets Mako for the first time, and her boa python daemon that curls around her shoulders.

“Weren’t you  _scared_?” Chuck asks her, once they’re out.

Eulalia snorts and says, “Did you know that Jindo dogs are one of the few dogs in the world that can take down a Siberian tiger?”

Chuck and Camelai have infinitely more respect for Eulalia (and grudgingly Herc) after that. They all know what it means. It means that Herc and Eulalia might not look like they’re in charge, but if they want to, they could be. Chuck sidles up to Camelai, who sidles up to Eulalia, and she curls protectively around them as Herc ruffles Chuck’s hair.

—

Chuck is 14 when Yancy and Raleigh Becket are assigned to Gipsy Danger. Yancy’s daemon is a tawny peregrine falcon that sits majestically on his shoulder. Raleigh’s is a rough-looking, pitch-black wolf. Camelai whimpers when Chuck reels. “It looks scary.” Chuck tells her, and she nods fervently in agreement. “I bet Eulalia could take her down, anyway.” Camelai and he relax after that (like the wolf could burst through the TV to attack them.)

But Raleigh is 19, and that gives Chuck new hope to everyone telling him that he’s too young to pilot.   

Over the year, Chuck learns Yancy’s peregrine falcon is the fastest bird on the planet, and that her name is Aesina. He also learns that Raleigh’s wolf is actually a male wolf. He gets all excited when Valerian turns out to be male. “He’s weird like us.” Camelai echoes his glee.

—

Chuck is 15 when he’s chosen as a pilot. Eulalia is against it, which means Herc is against it too, but Chuck and Camelai strap into the Jaegar and become the youngest pilot-daemon to stand in a Jaegar cockpit.

—

Chuck is 17 when his father presents him a tiny bulldog puppy for his birthday. Camelai is incredibly excited about Max, licks him all over like he’s her own son. Eulalia and Herc watch them, smiling a little, and it’s almost like Chuck didn’t just come back from his 4th Kaiju kill.

Later that year, Knifehead attacks Anchorage. Yancy Becket dies, and Raleigh Becket goes MIA.

—

It’s not until Chuck is 21 (almost 22, thank you very much) when Raleigh Becket and his huge wolf strides into the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Camelai and Chuck are no longer threatened by this gigantic wolf. Chuck thinks  _has-been, traitor, deserter, you used to be my hero_ , and Camelai makes her distaste of the shaggy wolf known immediately.

Mako and Adrastos think Raleigh and Valerian are amazing, and Camelai and Chuck almost fight them one day after a failed Drift before Raleigh and Valerian cut in. Chuck and Raleigh are pretty evenly matched, but even though Camelai dives at Valerian and bites into his flank, he’s about three times her size. Raleigh takes Chuck’s momentary stun from Camelai crashing into the floor to punch him to the ground.

Chuck would’ve dove at him again, but Herc steps in between them, and then Eulalia is a flash of white as she kicks Valerian to the ground. She’s about as small as Camelai is, but Chuck sees Eulalia’s fierceness for the first time, really, as she snarls and keeps a wolf three times her size down easily. Valerian looks surprised and tries to kick back up, but Eulalia growls, “ _Stay. Down_.”

Raleigh backs up, stunned, and Valerian goes limp under the dog’s paw. Camelai twists up and jumps beside Chuck, growling low in her throat, ready to pounce again. But Eulalia turns her attention toward her, growling in warning, and Camelai stops. Eulalia lets Valerian go and he waits until she’s back to Herc’s side. He stays low, bows his head in respect, and Raleigh looks like he’s going to say something.

But Marshal Pentecost barks orders at Mako and Raleigh, and that’s that.

—

Chuck is fuming when he’s back at the Kwoon. Mako is waiting for him, Adrastos curling around her. “That was rude,” she tells him, and Camelai whimpers. “And you are hurt.” She huffs in exasperation as she beckons both of them over. She slaps bandages over the cut on Chuck’s nose and cheeks and slathers something sticky on Camelai’s bruised left side. “Don’t lick it off.” She warns Camelai, when the fox scowls in distaste. “Or I will have Adrastos hold you down.”

Adrastos laughs. It’s weird to hear him laugh, a small symphony of hisses and laughter, but he does, and he taps Camelai affectionately on her nose with the tip of his tail. “Should know better than to dive at something three times your size.”

“ _Eulalia_  was able to hold him down.” Camelai says in protest, although they all know Eulalia can probably take a Kaiju down herself if necessary (only slightly exaggerating). She curls against Chuck’s side, letting Max curl up around her paws. Max is hesitant around Adrastos even after all these years because he’s huge, but apparently curling up near Camelai takes a bigger precedence.

“Chuck.” Mako says, smiling her  _I-know-all_  smile. She doesn’t say anything else, and Chuck and Camelai just try to glare. She’s not even a little fazed.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks after that, Chuck is standing on top of a powered-down Striker Eureka, a flare gun in hand. Camelai is growling at the Leatherback, utterly unafraid. It comes with the job, not being afraid to die, to do stupid things. Eulalia is sitting on her hind legs like nothing is wrong, except her ears are flat on her head and she’s growling deep in her throat. Herc cradles his broken arm, it’s raining cats and dogs around them.

Chuck shoots the flare gun. It pisses Leatherback off.

Camelai crouches low like she’s going to jump, and then there’s a roar of machinery, with Gipsy Danger bursting to scene, and Chuck’s cheering for the American Jaegar before he can stop himself.

—

“You cheered for them,” Eulalia comments smugly in the medbay as Herc gets his arm looked at.

“We did  _not_.” Camelai says, her tail tucked between her legs. Both her and Chuck know they did, just – they just don’t want to admit it.

Eulalia doesn’t say anything else, just looks like she’s laughing as she rests her head on Herc’s thigh. A few minutes later, when his arm is all slung up, Herc says, just as smugly as his daemon, “You cheered for them.”

—

Chuck does not  _mean_  to run into Raleigh. He’s minding his own business, picking up some midnight snacks from the vending machine in the mess hall. Apparently Raleigh Becket and his daemon had the same idea. Camelai notices them first and jumps to her feet, fur bristling as she narrows her red eyes at them. “Hey,” Raleigh offers, and Valerian wags his tail at them, his tongue flopping out of the side of his jaw. Like that, he just looks like an awfully big dog instead of some huge black hunk of terror.

Camelai doesn’t hide because they don’t do that, no way, but she does step neatly out of the way when Valerian and Raleigh take up the space in front of the vending machine. “So,” Valerian says. It’s the first time Chuck’s hearing the daemon talk, and he blinks in surprise. “Eulalia’s something, huh?”

Camelai squints at him. “Yeah.  _Something_.” She’s still miffed about being thrown to the floor, as much as Chuck is miffed about being punched in the face. Sure, Camelai bit him first and Chuck got in a gut punch, but that’s not the point. Chuck’s never once thought Camelai was  _small_. In fact, she’s a decently sized daemon, a little bigger than the average. But Valerian makes her look  _tiny_. Camelai is apparently aware of this, and she puffs up, her chest expanding and her already thick tail bristling. It’s kind of what Chuck does, when he’s not going to be backing down.

Raleigh chuckles. “She’s beautiful,” he offers, and Camelai deflates immediately in surprise. “Never seen anything like her.”

Chuck doesn’t know if he should be offended or touched. “She’s special,” he says, a little defensively. He remembers thinking  _he’s weird like us_  back when he first saw Raleigh and his male daemon. But maybe he and Camelai were weirder than weird could understand.

Raleigh kneels down to be on eye level with Camelai. Camelai flinches in surprise, backs up a little. Raleigh grins. “Yeah, I know. I meant that in a good way. What is she? Not a normal arctic fox, I assume. They don’t have red eyes.”

Chuck frowns, wondering if this is a trick. He and his daemon have been scrutinized a million times over by all sorts of media. Psychologists and daemonologists alike had offered their pick at them in all sorts of magazines, with results ranging from  _Chuck is obviously unstable_  to  _You can see by Camelai’s stance here that Chuck is blah blah blah_. Everything about Camelai had been blasted through magazines, newspapers, radios, TVs, and the Internet. Everyone knew she was an albino red fox that had settled when he was  _three_. “You.. don’t know.”

Raleigh stands back up. “Ah. Sorry. I dropped off the Kaiju and the Jaegar business. It… hurt too much to look at.” He rubs his chest, and Chuck suddenly feels shitty. Right. Yancy. But Raleigh recovers quickly. “So?”

“Uh. An albino red fox.”

Raleigh’s eyebrow rises, and he looks back down at Camelai. “That’s amazing. She’s gorgeous.” He smiles at Camelai when she glares at him. His hand lowers, palm up in front of Camelai’s jaw. “May I?”

It’s Camelai who takes the initiative, bumping her chin on Raleigh’s coarse hand. A jolt of  _something_ electric shoots up Chuck’s spine, and Camelai flinches, but it looks like neither Raleigh nor Valerian notices as Raleigh scratches Camelai under her chin before withdrawing his hand. When they wave goodbye, Camelai’s red eyes are wide as she whispers, “Chuck, what  _was_  that?”

—

“You let Raleigh  _touch_  you?” Herc repeats, and Eulalia looks alarmed. “Camelai. Chuck. You… do realize that touching others’ daemon is a sign of intimacy, right?”

What. No, Chuck and Camelai had not known. He touches Adrastos all the time, and Mako’s always petting Camelai. “But Mako and I-“

“You and Mako have been friends since you two were 13. That’s acceptable.” Eulalia interrupts, which his not like her at all. She looks a little angry. “You’ve known Raleigh for maybe a month.” She bristles, and Herc rises.

“Where are you going?” Camelai demands.

Herc slips out the door, Eulalia leading the way. “To have a talk with Becket and his daemon and figure out what the fuck he’s up to.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chuck doesn’t know what Herc and Eulalia talked about with Raleigh. He doesn’t care. He’s pissed. He stalks over to Raleigh himself, grabs him by the collar, and growls, “What, you thought it was  _funny_?”

Raleigh looks pained. “Chuck, I-“

“You thought it’d be funny to play around with the kid who didn’t know jack shit, huh?” He growls, and Camelai issues a similar growl when Valerian tries to get closer to her. “What’d you think, let me just play around with the virgin and see how it goes? You’d have a good laugh over the kid who’s never had a proper relationship?”

Raleigh grimaces. “Chuck, I sincerely had no idea. Your father and his daemon already came over to me. Actually, Eulalia ambushed us when we were turning a corner and had both of us down on the ground… I was going to apologize. I thought you two  _knew_.”

Chuck lets the collar go, and jabs his finger into Raleigh’s chest. “Fuck. You.”

_You used to be my hero, and I thought you’d understand._

—

Chuck and Camelai avoid everyone. Whenever Raleigh tries to approach, they run the other way. They even actively avoid  _Mako_ , because she’s got that patronizing look on her face. Camelai curls around Max, who whimpers sympathetically at them, and Chuck buries his face into his pillow. “I thought he’d get us.” He tells Camelai in the safety of his room.

“I know.” Camelai sighs, resting her jaw on Max’s head. “I thought he would, too. And that – that shock. I thought maybe he felt it, too.”

 _Guess not_ , Chuck thinks, feeling like he might cry. He starts screaming into the pillow, and Camelai whimpers compassionately. “Fuck this shit,” he tells Camelai, and she mournfully agrees.

—

He doesn’t have to avoid everyone for long, because the double-event-that-should-have-been-a-triple-event requires him to go down with the Marshal. It’s a suicide mission, he knows. He’s not coming back from this alive.

Eulalia is silent as Herc talks. Just as he’s about to turn around, Eulalia bounds up to them and presses her jaw to Camelai’s. “Take care of Max,” Camelai tells her. Eulalia nods, her eyes closed.

After the neural connection, Marshal Pentecost tells him, “If I got into a fight with your father, no doubt he’d win.” His Bengal tiger chuckles in response. Chuck flushes a bright red, embarrassed not because of the thought but because he made such an amateur mistake of letting his shallower thoughts show up.

He doesn’t regret the decision to come down here. He doesn’t mind giving up his life for the sake of everyone else. That’s what he’d signed up for, ultimately, anyway. Marshal Pentecost looks at him. “You’re so young,” he says, a look of compassion in his eyes that Chuck has never seen before. “Your father has lost enough.”

Chuck and Camelai say nothing. They’ve made the decision to trust Mako and Adrastos. Raleigh and Valerian. There’s a strange look in his co-pilot’s eyes.

Then the world goes black.

—

Camelai’s white fur is singed black and dyed red everywhere. A good chunk of her left hind leg is gone, and most of her tail’s burned off. Valerian keeps a steady watch by her as she breathes through a tube in her jaw, twitching sometimes.

A few feet to her side, Chuck lies in the bed adjacent to it, in an even worse condition. Thankfully they didn’t have to amputate anything, but chucks of flesh had been sliced off from shrapnel or burnt beyond repair. He’s got all sorts of internal damage, enough that Raleigh can’t even remember all of them.

Herc and Eulalia sit between the beds, eyes closed and leaning back on the monstrosity that is called a chair. “They’re alive.” Herc says, after a while. “That’s what matters.”

That’s what Raleigh keeps trying to tell himself, too, but the doctors say they don’t know when Chuck and Camelai will wake up, that they don’t know if they’ll wake up at all, and he doesn’t know what to think.

—

A week passes, and Herc and Eulalia manage to clean what’s left of Camelai’s fur as her injuries heal. She heals faster than Chuck does, but her injuries are bad enough that even under the sleep of pain medication, she whimpers when she’s handled a little too much. Herc doesn’t let Raleigh touch Camelai – Eulalia starts growling when he gets too close – so Raleigh just watches as Herc gently washes the blood off and clips the singed fur.

By the end of it, Camelai’s a lot smaller without much of her fur. “It’ll grow back,” Eulalia says, her eyes softening a little when she sees Raleigh’s face. “She got burned, once, when they were little. Chuck and Camelai thought she’d lost her fur forever, but it grew back.”

After a few more days, Camelai stirs. Eulalia jumps up onto the bed as Herc stands, and Camelai whimpers and twists. There’s a gurgle of some sorts as she tries to speak, and Eulalia laps at her head comfortingly. “It’s okay, you’re with us.”

It takes about half an hour of Max whimpering by the foot of the bed as they get some water into Camelai. Herc finally lifts Max up onto the bed. “No touching, Max,” he tells the bulldog, who sits obediently at the head of the bed, near enough so Camelai can see him without turning her head but not near enough to touch.

  
She smiles, a little dopey from the medication. “Hey, Max.” She says, and he wags his tail so furiously he almost tips over. “Chuck’s hurting,” she says. She tries to twist so she can see Chuck, who’s still unconscious. “I can feel it.” Her head falls back onto the pillow that Eulalia pushes beneath her head. “Where’s Mako and Adrastos?”

“They’re in Japan, overseeing some reconstruction process. They were here just two days ago, and we should call Mako soon or she’ll commit some kind of murder.” Herc tells her gently, petting her ears.

“Dead of snake strangulation.” Camelai says. “I’m sleepy.” Raleigh had thought Chuck and Camelai would wake up at the same time, but apparently not. Camelai looks at him, frowns a little, sees Valerian, and frowns a little more. “We don’t like you,” she says, sleepily, but trying to lift her head. “But you can stay, I guess.”

So Raleigh and Valerian stay.


	4. Chapter 4

When Chuck  _does_  wake up, it’s silently. He actually lies there blinking for a while, Camelai silent on the bed next to his, until Herc notices. “Why didn’t you say anything?” Herc admonishes, after the doctors come in and do their routine checkup. Herc’s trying to sound strict but it fails when he’s smiling so tenderly Raleigh thinks maybe he should give them a moment. Chuck shrugs with one shoulder and winces when it jars his injuries.

Raleigh notices he doesn’t look at either one of them. Camelai won’t look at them, either. But Raleigh also remembers how Camelai had given them permission to stay. No one’s told them to leave after that, so he and Valerian become a permanent fixture in the corner of the room.

Chuck heals slowly. By the time Camelai can breathe on her own without the help of machines and the graft on her hind leg starts to even out, Chuck is still a mess of tubing and wires, spending the days under pain medication.

One day when he’s awake and a little more alert than usual, he asks Herc, “Don’t you have more important things to do, Marshal?” There’s a hint of a smirk like he’s trying to be tough, but his voice sounds hopeful even under the muffle of the oxygen mask.

Herc just ruffles his hair. “There’s nothing more important for me to do right now than to be here.” Chuck smiles, so bright and like a child he probably never could be. Raleigh thinks that probably wouldn’t have happened – Chuck wouldn’t have let it slip out of his wall, no way – if he wasn’t under the influence of pain meds. Herc only smiles back, and Raleigh thinks maybe he should leave them alone again (except he doesn’t, and only because he’s half scared that if he leaves, he won’t be allowed back in), and strokes Chuck’s hair until he falls asleep.

When Mako comes back, there’s a third permanent presence in the room, and that’s not including Tendo, who drops by at least once a day, and also not Newt or Hermann, who also drops by every other day.

Today, it’s Newt with his tiny gecko daemon (that’s way too fitting and also a bit ironic). She’s shy and usually hides in Newt’s shirt pocket, but today she’s peeking out from it to look at Chuck, “Man, he’s a mess,” Newt says, and she glares at him in admonishment.

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” she says. “He’s doing fine.” She catches Raleigh staring and scurries back into his pocket. Newt raises his hands in defense, although it’s really unnecessary because his daemon can’t see him anyway, tucked into his pocket. He turns his attention back to Chuck, and a muffled voice from inside his pocket says, “He’ll heal.”

Newt snorts. “Of course he will. He’s a stubborn little brat.” He turns to Raleigh. “Been like that since the moment I met him. Did you know that the first thing he told me was that I looked like a bug? Didn’t even specify which bug. He was, like, 13. Tiny little kid holding onto his daddy’s pants. He doesn’t even remember meeting me back then.” Newt snorts again, and his gecko giggles a little in his pocket. “She thinks Chuck’s cute.”

Raleigh stares, because that means Newt also thinks Chuck’s cute, and he thinks potential rival?? Until he remembers Newt is 13 years older than Chuck and that apparently Chuck thinks he looks like a bug. No offense to bugs. “He’ll make it,” Valerian speaks up.

Newt looks at him like  _duh_. “Of course he’ll make it.”

—

A week after that, Chuck gets well enough so that he doesn’t have to be doped out on pain medication anymore. They still leave a pump attached to his IV so if he’s ever in too much pain, he doesn’t have to deal with it.

Camelai’s now up and about. She’s not as graceful as she used to be – she’s still limping, but she’s well enough so that she can get up off her bed. Max is the most excited about it because it finally means he can cuddle up to her instead of looking sadly from a distance, and he does it as soon as she lets him.

“Why are you here?” Chuck asks Raleigh and Valerian, looking at them like he’s realized their presence for the first time, even though they’ve been there for almost two months.

Valerian clears his throat and says, “Camelai said we could stay.”

Camelai looks rightfully alarmed, as she’d really said that when she was drugged up to her ears. “I don’t remember that.”

Herc chuckles from his chair, peeling a tangerine for Chuck to nibble on. “You did.”

Chuck sulks as Herc hands him a slice. “Don’t you have anything important to do, old man?” He says, and Herc raises an eyebrow. Chuck had been pretty out of it when Herc told him the  _nothing-more-important_ quote. But apparently Chuck remembers, because he’s blushing a little. Herc only grins and feeds him more tangerine slices.

—

Chuck ignores them. Camelai only gives them a look or two, but only when they move around. Eulalia’s pretty exasperated with all four of them, and so is Herc, but Herc and Eulalia are obviously on Chuck and Camelai’s side.

Which means Raleigh and Valerian get kicked out of the hospital room. “Sorry, mate.” Herc says, really looking apologetic. “He can be a right brat sometimes.”

Raleigh doesn’t mention that Eulalia had kicked both their asses two or so months ago, and goes to sulk to Tendo and his squirrel daemon. Sephronia chatters when she sees him, smiling at them, and then pauses when she notices Raleigh’s face. “What’s wrong? Also, how come you came out of the hospital room?” She jumps down from Tendo’s desk. She’s almost obscenely tiny next to Valerian, and he steps carefully so she’s not squashed under his paw.

“We got kicked out.” Valerian explains mournfully.

Tendo snickers, and Sephronia giggles, darting around Valerian’s paws. “Poor babies.” She says, cooing like a mother. She climbs up onto a chair so she can be on eye level with Valerian. He puts his snout on the chair and she looks on sympathetically as he whines. But she says, “Oh, grow up,” laughing her little chitter-chatter giggle.

—

By the time Raleigh thinks about going back to the room, it’s a week later, and he’s told that Chuck isn’t there anymore. “Chuck moved back to Sydney,” a nurse with an otter daemon tells him. “Marshal Hansen filed the paperwork himself.”

What.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i messed up and skipped part 4 while i was posting from tumblr, so chapter 4 is updated with the ACTUAL chapter 4, and this goes here.

Mako comes along with Chuck. She doesn’t give a reason except  _I have been your best friend for the past 9 years. Trust me, you need this_.

He feels more comfortable in the newly opened Sydney PPDC. He can look out and see  _Sydney_ , which makes Camelai sigh happily. His decision to leave Hong Kong was really simple. He misses Sydney. A lot. When he’s there, he’s glad for Mako – she’s right. He would have been lonely without her. Adrastos sometimes scares the nurses when he’s bored, and Camelai gets a good laugh out of it. She’s doing much better. She heals fast, as a daemon. So she’s still limping, but she can still keep up with Adrastos because he goes slow just for her.

Three days in Sydney, even with Mako right there by his side, he misses his father. He’d never admit it out loud, but on the third day, he calls his dad first instead of waiting around for Herc to call. He and his dad were never good with words, so they just kind of awkwardly greet each other. Camelai and Eulalia are better at it, but video calls are awkward still.

Chuck gets through three more days of it until he just can’t help it anymore. “I miss Eulalia,” he tells his father, because  _I miss you_  sounds too cheesy. He’s not going to say that, no way.

  
But they mean the same thing. His father smiles, his eyes crinkling a little, and says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

—

Two days later, Newt and Hermann fly in. Not exactly his father, but they lift Chuck’s spirits up a little. “Hey, kiddo!” Newt says. “Looking shitty!”

His daemon lets out a muffled protest from inside his shirt pocket and Hermann rolls his eyes. His owl daemon makes no noise as it lands on the railing at the foot of his bed. “Hello, Chuck,” she says, voice as soothing as always. “Missed us?”

“What’re you guys doing here?”

Newt grins. “We’re not allowed to spoil the surprise.” He pats his shirt pocket – he has a habit of doing that even when his daemon isn’t in it – and winks. “But you’ll love it, I promise.”

That kind of scares Chuck, but then Tendo comes in the next day, Sephronia bounding up to Adrastos to nuzzle their noses together (and isn’t  _that_  a sight, a tiny squirrel and a huge boa constrictor nuzzling noses). “Yo, Chuck,” like it’s normal that he’s in Sydney.

Before Chuck can figure it out, the next day, Eulalia strolls through the door in front of Herc, who’s wearing an ear-splitting grin. Chuck’s eyes almost bulge out of his sockets as Camelai yips happily, running-limping over to tackle Eulalia. She goes down, just for the heck of it, because Eulalia never really  _goes down_  unless she wants to, and licks Camelai’s ears. Max comes bounding in to join in the canine cuddle as Herc sits down on the seat Mako vacates, a smile on her face. “Hey, son.” Herc says. “I heard you missed me.”

Chuck says, “I missed  _Eulalia_.” Which means the same thing, anyway. He doesn’t say  _I missed you_ , but Herc gets it anyway and he ruffles Chuck’s hair.

—

Chuck kind of feels bad about it when he realizes there’s someone missing, but only realizes it a week after everyone moves in.

In his defense, the entire moving-the-PPDC-HQ-to-Sydney had been kind of a hectic process. Herc had apparently told the council that they could either authorize the move, or they could part ways. And PPDC needed Herc, for various reasons, with the biggest that Herc brought PPDC money. People donated to heroes. They didn’t donate to a Council with old people.

Tendo, Newt, and Hermann had no ties to Hong Kong, anyway, so they didn’t mind moving. (Tendo tells Chuck that Newt  _did_  mind moving away from Hong Kong’s huge black market of Kaiju goods, but Herc had ‘accidentally’ let it slip that Sydney had one just as big and Newt was ready to go.)

Plus, he’s still pissed and hurt about what Raleigh did. Moving to Sydney without telling him was kind of a payback, but not really. He doesn’t know. Raleigh  _seems_  to care, but he doesn’t want to make assumptions.

So it’s not  _really_  his fault that he doesn’t realize Raleigh’s not around until a week later. And it takes him another week to get his guts up to ask Herc about it. Who is, incidentally, ‘working’ by staying at the hospital wing by going over documents that Mako had already gone over, ‘just in case’ she missed anything. Mako does not miss anything. It’s just his excuse so he’s not doing nothing while Chuck’s healing. Thankfully, Mako doesn’t take offense.

In those two weeks, Chuck gets a lot of bandages undone and stitches pulled out. He also graduates from an all-liquids diet and a catheter to soft foods and a wheelchair. But now he can see his arms and legs and torso, and it’s a right mess of scars and burnt tissue and skin grafts that haven’t fully healed.

“I look like a disaster,” Chuck says, a little quietly.

It’s enough to make his dad look up immediately from his paperwork (that he’s not really reading, anyway). Herc sees what Chuck’s looking at – the scar on his right arm, where his bone had torn through the flesh there. “You look fine.” He tells Chuck, reaching out to place his hand on the scar. It’s jagged under his palm, feels like it’s almost burning. “You look fine, Chuck.” He says, and he means it. He stands up to do something he’s never done since Chuck was a kid – he kisses him on the forehead.

Chuck doesn’t say anything. Eulalia licks his hand.

After a while, he manages to ask, “Where’s Becket, anyway?”

—

A few hours later, Mako tells him, “He was actually around. Just waiting for permission.”

“What, is he a vampire?” Mako doesn’t get the reference, so he explains, “Vampires can’t get into your house until you let them in.” She nods, but doesn’t think it’s funny. “It’s not funny anymore, when you have to explain it,” he complains, and she just pats his head in a really patronizing (matronizing??) way. She’s, like seven months older than he is. She acts like she’s seven years older.

“Anyway,” she says, “he moved with everyone else. If you want to see him, I will let him know.”

“I don’t  _want_  to see him,” he pouts, and she just pats his head again in that matronizing-patronizing way.

—

Valerian is huger than he remembers. Camelai thinks so, too, apparently, because she does the whole puff-up-the-chest thing again, like it makes her any bigger. Valerian stalks around the bed to give both him and Camelai a look-over. She jumps off the bed and limps around, her tail held high, and he wags his tail at her.

“Hello, sir.” Raleigh says, looking nervously at Herc and Eulalia, who are glaring at them from across Chuck’s bed. He smiles warmly at Chuck in ways that makes Chuck’s stomach flutter. “Hey.”

“One hour,” Herc says. “I’ll give you two one hour alone. Come on, Eulalia. Bring Max along.” Eulalia ushers Max out the door – he follows her obediently, but she turns to give Valerian a very long look that makes the huge wolf drop his tail between his legs and cower back a little.

When the door closes, Valerian whispers to Camelai, keeping a respectful distance, “She’s frightening.” Camelai snorts. “You don’t think so because she’s never jumped you from around the corner before.”

Raleigh looks like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands, so Chuck hands him a fruit knife and an apple. He starts peeling it. They stay in silence, no one touching each other until Chuck’s hospital gown slips up a little and his jagged scar on his arm shows. Chuck almost rips his sleeve pulling it back down, and flushes a bright red.

He’s considering kicking Raleigh out before he can say anything, but Raleigh says, “Chuck.” His voice is almost reverent, enough to make Chuck look up. Raleigh puts a hand on Chuck’s, slowly unfurls his fingers from the hospital gown, and pushes the sleeve back up. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”

It looks horrendous, Chuck thinks, disfigured and discolored and a bizarre chunk of scar tissue. Raleigh’s fingers brush over it gently. “Stop,” Chuck says, unsure he can take anymore.

Raleigh stops. “It’s all right. No one’s judging,  _especially_  not me.” He peels the apples and hands Chuck a piece. Chuck chomps down on it, imagining it’s a kaiju. Or maybe not, they probably taste disgusting. “I’ve got my own collection of scars.”

Raleigh pulls up his (ugly) sweater – wait, why is he wearing a sweater, it is pretty hot in Australia in April – and reveals the set of scars, burned onto his body from the drivesuit. It actually looks kind of cool, Chuck thinks, kind of like a tattoo. His scars are ugly and uneven and jagged. He makes this thought known. Camelai’s also all beat up and bruised and her beautiful white fur is missing chunks, and she looks miserable, not the center of the envious attention as she always was.

Valerian curls up around Camelai. He’s big enough that he encompass her without touching her, and she looks surprised. “I think you look gorgeous.” Valerian tells her. “Prettiest daemon I’ve seen in my life.”

Raleigh smiles at Chuck. “Same here.” He pauses, and then says, “Well, you’re a human, not a daemon.”

 _Seriously_ , Raleigh is an idiot. And this idiot used to be Chuck’s hero.


	6. Chapter 6

Physical therapy starts, and Camelai watches on nervously from the side as Chuck takes his first steps, his entire body shaking as Herc holds him upright. Raleigh hovers nearby, in case Chuck crumbles and he needs to catch him.

Chuck does fall. Multiple times. “Don’t push yourself,” his physical therapist tells him as Raleigh helps him stand for the billionth time. “Take it slow.”

Chuck isn’t good at take it slow, and he ends up popping a few of the stitches he has left. The reason why these stitches have stayed is because they’re on his worse wounds, and popping them isn’t fun for any of the parties involved. He bleeds all over Raleigh’s sweater, but thankfully Raleigh is a pretty good sport about it. Raleigh isn’t that bad, Chuck decides.

He can’t really hobble far, but after two weeks of grueling rehab, he can make his way around the PPDC, especially if Raleigh or Herc is right there, hauling his crutches along and propping him up whenever he needs a breather. Camelai can’t quite sprint the way she used to yet, but she’s no longer limping, and her tail, even though it’s about as half as bushy as it used to be, sticks proudly in the air as she daintily walks next to Valerian or Eulalia. 

Chuck loves Sydney. Raleigh’s never really been attached to a city, so he can’t quite understand it, but Chuck’s face literally lights up like the sun whenever they go outside. It’s still in reconstruction, with the famous opera house under scaffolding. But Chuck loves it, points out all the places he’s memorized in his head. 

Also, Chuck is a kind of a hero in Sydney.

Okay, Chuck is a kind of a hero everywhere in the world. But in Sydney, he and Herc are like gods. Restaurants that Chuck go to get pictures and signatures and a day later they hang up a banner that reads CHUCK HANSEN HAS BEEN HERE. Apparently Raleigh also being that doesn’t even matter the least. Chuck doesn’t like fancy restaurants, so it actually means good business for small, mom-and-pop stores that he pops in because he likes the food. 

They can’t really go anywhere without Chuck being stopped and being asked for a photograph or a signature, although Chuck says it actually got better because Valerian looks so scary. Less people are willing to approach when there’s a daemon that looks like a one-headed Cerberus nearby. 

“I think the reason Cerberus is frightening is because he has three heads,” Raleigh points out, even though Valerian kind of likes the description Chuck gives him.

Chuck points his fork in his direction. “No, he’s scary because he’s big. How scary do you think he’d be if he had three heads and was tiny?” 

“Clifford isn’t scary.”

“Who the hell is Clifford?”

Raleigh briefly debates telling Chuck the story of Clifford the Big Red Dog and decides against it. He instead says, “He’s scary because he’s got three heads and he’s big.” Chuck only hmphs as he digs into his pasta (that they got for free). 

They make their way slowly back to the Sydney Shatterdome. It’s like there’s always something new for Chuck to take Raleigh to every day, mostly because they can’t really make multiple stops. On weekends, Herc tags along (and Valerian walks behind Eulalia, not next to Camelai like usual). 

But they go out so often that there are paparazzi pictures. The analyze-what-Camelai-is-doing comes back, much to Chuck’s disinterest, but the thing that pops up the most often are ‘Are Raleigh and Chuck dating?’. 

It horrifies Herc, amuses Mako, and becomes the most-often asked question whenever Mako, Herc, and Raleigh do press conferences. Chuck is exempt from them, on the account that he still can’t really walk by himself. The reporters give all sorts of ‘proof’ that Raleigh and Chuck are dating. 

“Hmm, this one has nice pictures,” Mako says, reading through a pop magazine who’s dedicated the entire issue to their ‘relationship’. It’s titled the ‘Chaleigh Special’. “You should call this magazine and ask for these. Oh, look, it’s got a really nice one of Valerian and Camelai, too.”

Chuck snorts. “That’s stupid. Raleigh and I aren’t actually dating.” 

Herc glares at Raleigh. “You two really aren’t dating, right?”

“Wouldn’t even dream of it, sir.”

\--

“So what are we doing, then?” Chuck asks Raleigh later, when they’re the only two in his hospital room. He looks hurt, and Camelai won’t let Valerian near her. 

“What?”

Chuck throws his covers on top of his head. “Never mind. Go away.”

\--

Raleigh is bewildered. Chuck doesn’t ban him from the room, exactly, but he makes it a mission not to speak or even look at him. Raleigh can’t figure out for the life of him what’s wrong. He consults Mako, who says, “Sometimes, Chuck is very hard to understand”. 

He even asks Herc, who frowns at him and says, “What did you do to my son that he’s not talking to you all of a sudden?” Eulalia looks very deadly all of a sudden, so Raleigh excuses himself in a hurry and he and Valerian get the hell out of the office.

Finally, Raleigh decides he’s really had enough. “Okay.” He says, standing up from his seat. Mako raises an eyebrow and Adrastos lifts his head. “Can you two give me and Chuck some privacy? I just – I just need to talk.” 

Mako’s eyebrow raises higher. She then says, “Don’t make me regret this. Both of you.” Adrastos taps Camelai on the nose with his tail before he slithers out, and Chuck is determinedly not looking at him.

“What’s going on? You suddenly won’t talk to me, won’t even go out to the city with me anymore, and Mako tells me you aren’t even doing your PT.” Chuck says nothing, just rubs between Camelai’s ears. “Chuck, please. I know I never told you before, but I like you. A lot. I thought I was making that obvious. But then I made the mistake of skipping way too many steps and touching Camelai before we did any of the dating in between. I thought we were doing pretty well on that dating part until you suddenly stopped talking to me.”

Chuck is looking at him now, and Raleigh feels a little better. But Chuck says, “You said you didn’t want to date me.”

Raleigh stares because he so very did not. Camelai proceeds to point out, “You told Herc that you wouldn’t even dream about it in your dreams.”

Oh.

Oh.

Valerian lets out a groan at the same time he does. Raleigh climbs onto the bed and grips Chuck’s hands. “I said that because your dad looked like he was going to kill me. I like you, Chuck. A lot. And I like Camelai.” He smiles at her, and she wags her tail tentatively at him, which is a good sign. “Wanna date?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eulalia's outlook on what's happening

When Eulalia first meets them, she loses her breath. Angela’s not model-beautiful, or anything. She’s pretty in a plain way, and the leopard daemon next to her is neither overly big nor something she’s never seen before. But they take her breath away, and Eulalia and Herc learn what _love at first sight_ means.

 

Eulalia has never been so happy before. Herc’s never been so happy before, and when they marry, Eulalia’s so happy she feels like her tail might fall off because she’s wagging so hard, standing next to Herc on the red carpet.

 

Then Angela gets pregnant, and there’s a tiny new addition to the family that Eulalia and Herc can’t take their eyes off of. Chuck gurgles and learns to giggle far earlier than what’s average, tugging on Eulalia’s fur too hard sometimes and spitting on her. She’s so happy she can’t even care. She curls around Chuck, around the baby Camelai, and hugs them tight as Leo curls around all three of them, rumbling proudly as Herc and Angela smile.

 

Chuck is fast at _everything_. He says _mama_ and _papa_ faster than most kids, starts crawling and then takes his first step when he’s 7 months. He learns to waddle and walk around by 12 months, far earlier than the average 14-15, and he’s a right chaos. Herc and Angela quickly learn to baby proof the house, but Camelai turns into tiny birds to reach what Chuck can’t. Secretly, Eulalia’s proud, and so is Herc. They don’t tell Angela or Leo, though.

 

Something goes wrong when Chuck turns three. Camelai’s a small white fox at his feet, and he says, “Cammy’s gonna stay that way.”

 

They all panic. Daemons don’t settle when the humans are _three_. They settle much, much later. Herc and Angela carry Chuck to daemonologists, who can find nothing wrong with the bond. But they do find out that Camelai’s not an arctic fox like they’d all thought – she’s an albino red fox. “That doesn’t happen,” the daemonologist had told them, all frowns. “You need to go get this kid checked out in psychology or something.”

 

So Herc and Angela take Chuck to a psychologist. They don’t tell him about Camelai settling or her being an albino fox, and he finds nothing wrong with Chuck. Chuck is a normal, happy kid. The take Chuck to others for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th opinions, and all the psychologists tell them, Chuck’s normal.

 

“Maybe there’s nothing wrong with Chuck.” Angela declares one day, when they put Chuck to bed, Camelai curled up next to him. “He’s just the first one to be like this. Someone had to be the first for everything, right?”

 

And that’s that. Chuck is an average (except the fact that he’s really smart) kid. Chuck is the best student in kindergarten. People will say _it’s just kindergarten_ , but _their_ kids aren’t the ones the teachers are gushing over, now, are they? Chuck is the best reader in the class, the best at maths, and the best at matching shapes. Eulalia’s chest swells with pride every time Chuck runs into their apartment clutching a piece of paper filled with shining star stickers with a _Great Job!_ stamp on top. Chuck insists on having all of his _Great Job!_ papers on the fridge, and so the fridge gets full of papers within a month.

 

Eulalia is so happy, so proud when Chuck walks into grade school, and then he’s coming back with more papers, except as he gets older the _Great Job!_ s turn into big red 100s written across the top, underlined with exclamation points. Some of the teachers write smiley faces next to the 100, some put on stickers, and in 4th grade Chuck gets a teacher who uses a sparkly pink pen and gets sparkles on all of his other things. Eulalia can’t keep track of how much she swells with pride as she curls around Chuck and Camelai as they tell her and Leo all about his school day, how he came in first when they were during laps during gym class and how he answered all the questions on his English surprise quiz correct.

 

Then everything falls apart. Chuck’s just had his birthday not even a month ago, and he’s still in school while Herc and Camelai are serving back in RAAF. There’s talk about Kaiju buzzing about in Australia, about how Australia needs its own Jaegar. Most Australians think it’s ridiculous – there hasn’t been an attack near the Australian continent for a year. Everyone thinks they’re safe.

 

Until Scissure hits Sydney. Eulalia and Herc don’t think anything but _Chuck is in school_ , _right in the middle of Sydney_. They don’t think, they don’t care – they’re running, and running, until Chuck is bawling in his father’s arms as Herc runs, Eulalia holding Camelai by the scruff of her neck as she runs. For the first time, Camelai doesn’t complain when she does it, just cries and cries.

 

They’re too late to reach Angela and Leo.

 

And Chuck starts rebelling. He and Camelai become rough, growling to anyone who’d dare to come near them. Chuck enrolls in the Jaegar program at _12 years old_ , when he’s still a baby and too young, too young, too young. Chuck, as he always was, is the best in the entire class, with the best marks way over people older than him.

 

When Chuck’s 15, he’s assigned to Striker Eureka with Herc.

 

Eulalia doesn’t know how to deal with it anymore. She’s never been good at this. All she knows is that Chuck’s too young. He’s so small that he doesn’t even fit into the adult suit. They have to make him a new one, and then he’s piloting. Eulalia curls up on Herc’s lap that night after their first test run, and she cries for him because Herc will never cry.

 

They get through the next six years, tearing through Kaiju. Chuck starts to open up a little – it’s impossible not to, since they Drift, after all. But he also starts to understand, little by little.

 

\--

 

And Chuck and Camelai are _hers_. Her children, her babies. And she _does not_ like this Raleigh Becket and his big-for-show daemon. “We used to like them,” Herc reminds her, after she’s done snapping at Valerian. _Valerian_. Like he’s supposed to be brave. She snorts.

 

She remembers, and that’s what keeps her from permanently banning Raleigh from Chuck, because at the end of it Raleigh’s a good guy, and is probably one of the best people for Chuck. Plus, even if they ban him, she’s pretty sure that’s not going to keep Chuck away.

 

That’s why Herc and Eulalia don’t argue when Chuck says he wants to go to Sydney. They _know_ he’s running from Raleigh and Valerian. They _know_ there’s probably no one like Raleigh out there that’ll make Chuck happy.

 

But they’re not exactly ready to let Chuck go yet.

 

When Chuck calls them three days into Sydney and tells her, “ _I miss Eulalia_ ,” well, Herc and Eulalia may be wearing grins that’s wide enough to split their face the entire day.

 

\--

 

Raleigh Becket has the nerve to knock into their office one day and ask if they know why Chuck’s not talking to him. She narrows her eyes at him as Herc asks, “What did you do to my son that he’s nothing talking to you?”

 

Valerian’s tail drops between his legs (honestly, as much as she likes his respect for her, she’s going to have to teach him to stand up for himself because no coward – named _Valerian_ , no less – is going to be dating Chuck and Camelai). Raleigh just says, “You know what, I’ll just talk to Chuck,” and bolts out of Herc’s and Eulalia’s office.

 

Seriously, Eulalia thinks she’s going to teach the pair of them to grow some balls, because she will not be approving of their relationship. Well, she’s probably going to not approve either way, she thinks, as she folds her front paws and tucks it under herself. Herc chuckles lightly. “We like them, Eulalia.”

 

Riiight.

 

\--

 

Same day at dinner, apparently Chuck and Raleigh are talking to each other again. In fact, to Eulalia’s alarm that echoes straight through and around Herc, Camelai is tuckered up against Valerian, letting him lick at her ears.

 

She narrows her eyes at him, and he slants his eyes back but doesn’t budge from his spot. Camelai yawns, apparently unaware of the silent eye-fight above her head.

 

“Chuck.” Herc says, voice warning.

 

Chuck hmphs like nothing’s wrong. “We’re dating, old man.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

_That_ , Raleigh thinks, could have been handled a little better. Herc’s face gets stormy and Eulalia bares her fangs, growling low in her throat. Valerian’s ears press flat on his head but otherwise he stays stock-still, neither backing down nor pushing forward. Raleigh clears his throat. “Uh. Yeah. We’re dating, sir.”

 

Herc suddenly looks amused, which is not the reaction Raleigh has been expecting at all. “Finally grew some balls, did you?” He then proceeds to pluck Camelai from Valerian’s cuddle-roll and she growls happily as he ruffles her ears. “How are you feeling, kid?”

 

And that’s that. Chuck shrugs, like he expected it, but Raleigh and Valerian are _floored_.

 

Later, when Herc leaves again with a harder-than-normal pat, Raleigh says, “ _That’s it_?”

 

Chuck raises an eyebrow at Raleigh’s direction. “My dad isn’t the _devil_ , or anything.” He brings Camelai onto his lap. After a bit of hesitation, he plops her down onto Raleigh’s lap. Raleigh stares at Calmelai, and she stares right back with her bright red eyes. Raleigh hesitantly puts a hand on Camelai’s head, and feels the pleasant jolt that he’d felt before, when he touched Camelai before the entire thing.

 

Chuck shudders a little. “Do you feel that?” Raleigh grins, leans over, and kisses Chuck. His hand’s still on Camelai’s hand, and the jolt sparks between them again. “What is it?”

 

Raleigh answers, “Getting intimate.” Chuck’s ears burn a bright red but he doesn’t pull away. Valerian comes up to them, and Chuck hesitates putting his hand out. “Come on, Chuck.” And Chuck does. He gasps a little when his hand touches Valerian’s ears, and Raleigh presses their foreheads together, their hands tangled in each other’s daemon.

 

“How’s he feel?” Raleigh asks, when Chuck can’t get enough of touching Valerian.

 

Chuck’s nose scrunches. “His fur’s all rough. Not like Camelai’s.” Valerian laughs. It’s a low, happy rumble and his tag wags furiously at Chuck’s touch. “Kinda feels nice, though.” Raleigh laughs and shifts slowly so Camelai, who’s fallen asleep on his lap, isn’t disturbed. After a while, Chuck drifts asleep, his body still not fully healed, and Raleigh and Valerian share a glance before grinning broadly.

 

\--

 

“This isn’t a good idea,” Raleigh says, watching Herc help Chuck get suited up. “Are you sure this is really necessary?”

 

Herc sighs. “I like it as little as you do. Can’t help it. Rumors around how Chuck’s doing is getting worse and worse and it’s not good for the PPDC. I wouldn’t be putting my son out there otherwise.” Eulalia has a pinched look, too, but she tugs the crooked bowtie off Valerian’s neck and puts it on again all with her jaws, which is impressive.

 

Chuck shrugs. “You know I don’t really care, right? I’ve talked to reporters more times than I can count. I’m good at that sorta thing.” He shoots a cocky grin to Raleigh, who can’t help but smile back. Chuck’s right. The media lapped up Chuck’s story – Camelai and all - and his cockiness. It helped Chuck was good looking, and it helped more that he had no shyness in front of a camera. “Just letting you know, old man, that if they ask about my love life, I’m telling them as is.”

 

Herc sighs and nods, adjusting Chuck’s tie around his neck. “Yeah, I know.”

 

The press conference goes well. Raleigh sits at the left end, Mako next to him, Chuck next to her, and Herc at the other end. Their daemon are sitting on the floor next to them. Most of the questions are either about or directed to Chuck, since the press conference is supposed to be about his recovery, anyway.

 

“Marshal Hansen, can you comment on the various psychologists’ claims that your son is not psychologically stable?”

 

Herc nods curtly. “When Camelai first settled, we took Chuck to various psychologists. We never told them that she had already settled, or that she was an albino fox. We got five different opinions, and all of them told us that Chuck was perfectly fine. Now these so-called ‘professional psychologists’ are trying to say there’s something wrong with my son without even sitting down with him. I think they’re getting a little full of themselves, yeah?”

 

The reporters nod and scribble furiously. It’s not a question they haven’t had before, and it’s not an unheard answer, but it’s the only one Herc’s willing to give that’s not riddled with curses to the psychologists. Raleigh takes a sip of his water and glances at Chuck. Chuck’s good at this press conference thing, all cocky grins and smooth words to anything they toss his way. They haven’t asked him anything that set him off yet, something Raleigh’s actually pretty surprised by. Chuck’s hotheaded, and some of the questions would’ve sent _him_ in a rage.

 

“He’s got experience,” Mako whispers to him, low enough so that the mic doesn’t catch it. “More than anyone else in the program.” She smiles a little and adds, “Also, I think he likes being a celebrity.” Her daemon snicker quietly next to her, and Chuck jabs Mako’s side under the table.

 

“Ranger Mori, Ranger Becket – are the rumors that you two are in a relationship true?”

 

Mako snickers and looks at Raleigh. Chuck’s also raised an amused eyebrow his way, and Herc just nods lightly. Raleigh clears his throat. “Uh. Actually. I’m dating someone, but it’s not Mako.” There’s a furious scribbling all around, photographs being snapped everywhere. He clears his throat again. “I’m dating Chuck.”

 

There’s a stunned silence after that. Then there is a storm of questions, followed by a flurry of flashes as pictures are taken. Chuck grins smugly and leans back on his chair, sipping on water, and Raleigh glances at him. When their eyes meet, Chuck’s grin melts into a warm smile.

 

That’s the picture that makes the front pages the next morning – Chuck and Raleigh smiling at each other. Mako complains about being in the picture, mostly because a lot of jealous fangirls have begun to hate on her for ‘coming in between them’ when she’s been nothing but supportive. “It’ll go away soon,” Chuck tells her with a snort. She just stomps on his toes.

 

In either case, now that their relationship is out, Raleigh and Chuck get a certain type of fanmail they haven’t gotten before.

 

They get a _lot_ of sex toys. Vibrators of all sizes, dildos bigger than Raleigh’s forearm, a bunch of floggers, and all sort of BDSM toys. Also, everyone wants to know ‘who’s on top’.

 

The sex toys all go in the incinerator, dumped there by either Herc, Chuck, or Raleigh. Mako picks up a letter and bats her eyes at them. “So?”

 

“So?” Chuck repeats, cranky the way he always is after a session of PT.

 

“Who’s on top?” She asks it like it’s no big deal, like she’s asking what’s for breakfast. It makes Chuck splutter around his water and Raleigh almost drop Chuck. Adrastos snickers. “Is it a weird question?”

 

Chuck sighs. “You don’t go asking people that, Mako. Jesus fuck.” He rubs his forehead and glares at Raleigh, as if daring him to say anything. Raleigh keeps his lips sealed. “We haven’t fucked yet.”

 

Mako nods, sagely, and then bursts into giggles. “I think,” she says, “you’d be on the bottom.” That earns her a swing from Chuck, but he doesn’t deny it, just blushes a deep bright red as Camelai ducks her head.

 

Huh.

 


	9. Chapter 9

They dart around the topic of sex until Chuck finally snaps, “All right, I’m _virgin_ , okay?” He and Camelai then run out of the room like there’s fire on their tails. (Or at least Camelai’s tail.)

 

Raleigh and Valerian spend the next few hours hunting the pair down, because they can be so damned elusive when they want to be. They finally find Chuck squished into nook of the Shatterdome they didn’t even know existed. Valerian corners them before they can try anything, using his huge mass to block all exits. Chuck looks up, and Camelai presses her ears flat to her head but doesn’t snarl like Raleigh was expecting her to.

 

“Are you _crying_?” Valerian asks, sounding shocked, and Raleigh squats to find that – yes, Chuck is crying. He and Valerian share their moment of sheer alarm before Valerian recovers first and asks, “Why are you crying?”

 

Chuck doesn’t answer – he just buries his face in his arms, grumbling. Raleigh’s known Chuck was a buildup of random emotions that could possibly erupt at any given moment, but this sudden burst of tears shocks him more than he thought. He snuggles up to Chuck and touches his arm. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Chuck mumbles into his arms. “Chuck, I can’t hear you.”

 

“You must think I’m a freak!” Chuck snarls, snapping his head up.

 

Raleigh stares. “Why?”

 

Chuck matches his stare. “Because I’m still virgin! And I’m 22.”

 

Raleigh can’t help it – he laughs. Chuck looks even more offended and looks ready to run, but Raleigh takes his hand and rubs his knuckles fondly. “ _Chuck_. You _just_ turned 22. You’ve been doing nothing but piloting since you were 15. Even if you weren’t, 22 isn’t a weird age to be a virgin at.” Chuck sniffles loudly, and Raleigh grabs his cheek. “Give yourself more credit, Chuck. For a cocky bastard, you have too little self-esteem.”

 

Chuck punches him in the arm (and it hurts), but lets Raleigh pull him back up and manhandle him to the cafeteria. He angrily eats all of Raleigh’s chocolate pudding and gives Camelai his mashed potatoes, which Raleigh figures is decent if it’s supposed to be revenge. Mako rolls his eyes. “You are so petty sometimes, Chuck.”

 

He just takes a bigger mouthful of Raleigh’s pudding and sticks his tongue out at Mako. Adrastos sighs. “Chuck. Grow up.”

 

\--

 

They go about doing everyday things. It’s hard to slide into it at first – they’re all so used to war and danger that it always takes Raleigh a moment after he wakes up to think _there’s no danger I can sleep in_.

 

He then takes account of Chuck, sleeping tucked against the wall on his bed and stealing all his blankets. Camelai and Valerian are curled up around each other at the foot of the bed. Valerian blinks at him, and then at her. Raleigh can read the tension in his shoulders, and they’re both about to just jump out of bed when Chuck mutters, “Get back to sleep. Both of you.” He turns and lets Raleigh have a bit of the blanket and throws his arm and leg over Raleigh’s torso.

 

But as much as Chuck may pretend to be okay, he’s the worst at falling back into normal-life pace. Raleigh doesn’t wonder why – Chuck’s spent most of his life involved in the war. Sometimes, Raleigh finds Chuck and Camelai staring off into space, and before he’d learned better, Raleigh’d touched him and ended up with a bruised jaw.

 

Chuck isn’t suffering from PTSD, or anything. He isn’t feeling left out, or idle. He has plenty to do – the Shatterdome is busier than ever, and Chuck is apparently the go-to person to ask for all the mechanics. Raleigh’s impressed at how much Jaegar technology Chuck knows. He’s a master at it, starting from the physical mechanics of the Jaegars and to mastering the theory behind drift technology. “It’s why Striker’s the best Jaegar, mate.” Chuck tells him, one day. “You want something to move the way you want it to, you gotta do it yourself.”

 

In any case, Chuck is a child of war. He hates it, despises it and wants out of the most out of everyone, but he doesn’t know what do to when there’s peace. It’s not that Chuck’s looking for violence, or that he wants it. He just feels lost, and Raleigh can see it. On both him and Camelai.

 

Mako is too, but she copes it with by making herself so busy she doesn’t have time to think about it. Raleigh and Chuck are occupied but not _busy_. Herc and Mako are so busy they barely see either one. Mako’s by choice, though. She gives motivational speeches everywhere, a gift Raleigh thinks she got from being raised under Pentecost. They all get asked to various talk shows but mostly Raleigh and Chuck refuse while Mako becomes the face of the Shatterdome.

 

Chuck doesn’t want to be busy. He wants to enjoy the peace – he just doesn’t know how to go about it. Thankfully, Raleigh _does_ remember a time before the war and knows how to have fun anyway.

 

So he takes Chuck out. They watch movies. They go ice skating, snowboarding, skiing, and every winter sports Raleigh can think of, because Chuck’s never tried any of it and his eyes light up like Christmas lights when they’re out. It takes Chuck’s mind off of ‘trying to fit in’ and makes him really happy, so Raleigh can’t really ask for much more.

 

Obviously, with their relationship and all, paparazzi follow them everywhere. Chuck is good with it, posing and striking cocky grins for the camera. He’s not shy about kissing Raleigh or otherwise showing affection on camera, so Raleigh decides he can’t really care, either. That’s how the photo of Chuck and Raleigh making out under a dim streetlight, Raleigh pulling Chuck closer to him by sliding his hands into the back pockets of Chuck’s jeans, makes it to the front page.

 

Needless to say, Raleigh gets his ass handed to him at the Kwoon by Herc, who’s magically managed to free up some time. Chuck and Camelai watch from the corner, sitting cross legged on the mat and eating chocolate pudding.

 

Bastard.


	10. Chapter 10

Camelai and Valerian get  _really, really_  touchy. They’re almost always snuggling, walking pressed tightly to each other. They’re always licking each other’s faces any chance they get, Valerian’s tongue running over Camelai’s head as Camelai laps at his nose. 

Raleigh thinks they’re making up for the lack of physical contact between Chuck and himself. Sure, when they get to it, Chuck and Raleigh can get pretty touchy (like that kiss that the paparazzi caught that ended up getting Raleigh’s ass kicked), but usually they don’t even hold hands. Chuck walks a foot away from Raleigh.

Raleigh’s about to run up the wall in frustration because of it. He’s fundamentally a physical person. All the women he’s dated, he’d had them on his lap, had his arm around their waist, their shoulder, showered them with kisses all over.

Chuck’s aversion to touch is something he can’t deal with. Or he  _can_  deal with. Just. He doesn’t want to be dealing with it.

Chuck almost always drags his hand back like he’s burnt anytime he tries to take Chuck’s hand. And slips out masterfully from under him when he tries to throw his arm over his shoulder. It’s like he’s a master of the art of dodging displays of affection.

He brings it up to Mako, who just rolls her eyes and says, “He is bad at affection.  _Very_ bad it. I am sure he wants it, too. Just does not know how to go about it.”

That’s not the best of advice. In fact, it’s not advice at all. Raleigh sighs and turns over in bed. They’re sleeping on the same  _bed_ _and not even touching each other_. Chuck’s excuse is that it’s hot.  _  
_

Raleigh makes up for it grumpily by stealing Camelai from Valerian and cuddling her. She doesn’t mind - in fact, she snuggles up to him just fine, but it makes Valerian lonely, so he ends up handing her over most of the time.

"Chuck," Raleigh says, one day at night. "Do you not  _want_ me to touch you?”

Chuck frowns at him. “Why do you say that?”

Raleigh stares. “Oh, I don’t know. Because  _you don’t let me touch you_?”

Chuck opens his mouth to protest, and then closes it again, because he really can’t say anything. He blushes darkly. “Come off it, mate. I want to touch you, too.” He then mutters, “I just don’t know how to do it.”

He says it so quickly and quietly that Raleigh  _almost_ doesn’t catch it. Raleigh stares, and then bursts out into laughter, catching Chuck in a hug before he can run away. “Hey,” Raleigh smiles, and Chuck punches his arm. “Hey, I love you. You just let whatever happen, all right?” 

He pins Chuck to the wall and presses their lips together - until he’s bodily dragged away by a rough hand. When he looks up, Herc is smiling at him, not too unlike a great white shark.

“ _Dad_ ,” Chuck complains, but doesn’t do anything to stop Herc from dragging Raleigh to the Kwoon.


End file.
